Feds approve massive Virginia offshore wind project

OFFSHORE WIND: The Interior Department approves Dominion Energy’s proposed 2.6 GW wind farm off the Virginia coast, which the utility’s CEO calls a ​“monumental achievement” for the company. (E&E News)

ALSO: The announcement comes as Ørsted pulls out of two offshore wind projects in New Jersey citing cost increases, underscoring the ongoing supply chain issues facing the industry. (Associated Press)

ELECTRIC VEHICLES:

• Toyota says it will more than double its investment in a North Carolina battery plant, which Gov. Roy Cooper says is due in part to lessons learned from the state’s failed bid with the company to land an auto plant. (Associated Press, WRAL)
• A South Korean auto components manufacturer announces plans for a $176 million plant in rural Georgia to supply Hyundai’s electric vehicle plant. (Associated Press)

POLITICS:

• Republican members of Congress who denounced the Inflation Reduction Act are publicly praising clean energy investments in their Southeast states. (The Guardian)
• A public employee group says Oklahoma’s effort to ban doing business with banks that consider climate change in their financial decisions will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and puts retirement funds at risk. (Oklahoman)

COAL:

• In a recently unsealed whistleblower lawsuit, a former Southern Company employee claims the company and its subsidiary, Mississippi Power, defrauded the federal government in its failed effort to build a $7.5 billion coal plant. (Associated Press)
• Advocates say Alabama Power is exaggerating the costs of relocating 100 million tons of coal ash to comply with EPA groundwater rules. (AL.com)

OIL & GAS: ExxonMobil has offered few details on its two-year-old plastic recycling facility in Houston, including how much winds up being turned into transportation fuels. (Inside Climate News)

GRID: Texas voters next week will decide on a ballot measure that provides $5 billion for new power plants, specifically excluding renewable energy and battery storage. (Texas Tribune)

PIPELINES: Equitrans says it still expects the Mountain Valley Pipeline to be completed early next year, at a cost more than double what it originally estimated. (Seeking Alpha)

UTILITIES: Duke Energy’s industrial customers ask regulators to halt a program that would bill them $1.70 a month to help fund bill relief for low-income households. (WFAE)

WASTE TO ENERGY: Tampa officials seek to use Inflation Reduction Act funds to expand a waste-to-energy plant as residents escalate concerns about health risks. (NBC News)